“I do not want art for a few, any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.” So said William Morris, pioneer of British socialism, designer and founding figure of the V&A. From the beginning, the South Kensington museum (as it was known) had a strongly democratic ethos. The rooms of the museum were to be ‘The People’s Galleries’, with gas lighting for working people to visit in the evening, a café so that families could have an enjoyable day out, and written labels as a free alternative to an expensive catalogue. Читать дальше...